Alleged fraud: Loans approved by Akingbola follows due process ---EFCC witness

*Dr. Erastus Akingbola

(Nigeria) A witness of the Economic And Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Mrs. Modupe Ajayi on Monday, told a Federal High Court sitting  in Lagos, that all the loans approved by the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the defunct Intercontinental Bank Plc, Dr. Erastus Akingbola, followed due process.

Ajayi, a former Assistant General Manager, AGM, Credit Analysis Department of the defunct Intercontinental Bank, also told the court that Akingbola did not authorised the disbursement of any loan obtained from the bank.

The witness stated this while being cross-examined by Professor Taiwo Osipintan, SAN, one of the lawyer representing Akingbola.

When asked to go through page 84 to 94 of one of  the exhibit  tendered  by the prosecution through her, and point out if there is any loan obtained without due process, the witness said: "the process were in accordance with the laid down rules and the approval was based on recommendation."

When also asked if the (defendant) Akingbola signed the disbursement of the loans, the witness replied; "there was no documents indicating that the defendant authorised the disbursement of the loans."

When further asked about those who recommended the payment of the loans, the witness said: "I was not party to the recommendation. Two non executive directors, and somebody from Legal department and Credit department made the recommendation

Asked if any of those that made the recommendation were charged with Akingbola, Ajayi  said  I can't see them in court."

Ajayi also told the court that from the documents,  all the loans were adequately secured  either by shares  or cash as contained in the offer letters and that there are two conditions for draw down of the facilities, the are condition precedent and conditions for drawing down on the facilities.

Earlier, Ajayi, while being led evidence-in-chief by the prosecutor, Mr. Rotimi Jacobs, SAN, had narrated before the court how the defunct Intercontinental Bank Plc, granted billionaire loans to some companies for trading at the Nigeria Stock Exchange.

Among the companies mentioned by Ajayi were Sincker Nigeria Limited, Stansus Investment and Nwudike Enterprises.

She said all the loans followed due process and met the bank rules as at the time. The witness also informed the court that Intercontinental Bank made money from such facilities.

She also told the court that throughout her tenure as head of Credit Analysis, she did not recommend any facility to Akingbola or companies associated with him.

In her evidence, Ajayi who claimed to have started working with the Bank in 2004, as Manager in Credit Analysis Department, while analysing some exhibits earlier tendered by another witness, said she did not sign some of the documents for the loans while she signed some.

EFCC had in a 22- Count charge alleged that  Akingbola, between November 2007 and July 2008, “caused to be created a misleading appearance of active trading in the shares of Intercontinental Bank Plc on the Nigerian Stock Exchange by being connected with the utilisation of an aggregate sum of N179.385billlion of the bank’s fund for the purchase of the bank’s shares.”

The commission said Akingbola converted N10 billion belonging to the bank by obtaining three manager’s cheques in the names of Tropics Properties Ltd, Tropics securities Ltd and Bankinson Nigeria Ltd, which he “owned and controlled.”

EFCC added in the charge: “The manager cheques were subsequently used to repay loan granted by Access Bank Plc to your companies and which sum you knew represented the proceeds of crime, to wit: stealing."

The alleged offence violates Section 14 (1) of the Money Laundering Act of 2004.

In the 22-count charge, the prosecution alleged that Akingbola made an equity investment of N100million in Flexmore Technologies without a prior approval in writing of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN.

It said Akingbola failed to take all reasonable steps to ensure compliance with the requirement to maintain, at all times, the minimum capital adequacy ratio specified by the CBN in compliance with Section 13(1) of the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act, Cap B3 Laws of the Federation 2004.

Akingbola was accused of granting “unsecured credit facilities” worth billions of naira to different companies, and of buying a London property at with 1.3 million pounds taken from the bank’s Nostro account, among others.